Employment opportunities

Position description

Position title: Media Relations Manager

Reports to: Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Position summary:

The media relations manager is responsible for developing and maintaining a dynamic
and proactive media relations program, dispensing newsworthy information to the media,
to the public and to the Saint Martin’s community. The manager works with faculty,
staff, alumni, students, external media and other contacts to advance the visibility,
goals and mission of the university, and disseminates pertinent news regarding the
University’s history, stories, programs, special events and general information. The
media relations manager scouts and researches story ideas, develops relationships with
journalists and members of the Saint Martin’s community, and places stories and
commentary to ensure that the university’s key messages reach target audiences.
Directing systems to assure organized, consistent and reliable media relations, the
media relations manager is critical to the success of the University’s marketing and
communication efforts.

Mission and strategic plan

By providing leadership on communication efforts, the media relations manager
ensures that the “story” of Saint Martin’s University is shared with campus, local,
regional, national and global communities in a compelling way, so as to build awareness
and support of the University. The manager serves as a resource and support to the
Saint Martin’s community. As a conduit to both internal and external audiences, this
position is instrumental in building broad awareness of Saint Martin’s mission of
supporting students’ growth in faith, reason, service and community. The manager
translates that mission, as well as the Benedictine values, into written communication
pieces, and ensures that the University upholds standards of excellence in conveying
its mission and values to broad audiences. Through the development of the University’s
official communications, the media relations manager supports efforts throughout the
campus community to meet the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.

Level of supervision and supervisory responsibility

General Supervision: The employee carries out recurring assignments without
specific instruction. The supervisor intercedes and provides direction for only
new or unusual problems which involve deviations from normal policies,
procedures and work methods. The employee’s work is reviewed upon completion and
only periodically to verify compliance with policies and procedures.

Responsibilities and essential functions

Builds a strong media relations program by: working extensively with other campus departments to garner newsworthy public relations stories, cultivating relationships with faculty, staff and students as sources for news and feature stories; working closely with the vice president for marketing and communications to develop story concepts and write compelling press releases, public service announcements and media advisories to place in local, regional and national news media; pitching news and features to print, electronic and online media through personal and telephone contact and distribution of news releases; developing media kits; disseminating news and updates, and maintaining media contacts, through social media; collecting, compiling and maintaining media contacts list/database; compiling and maintaining media clip archive, monitoring all press clippings and information sources for Saint Martin’s-related stories; communicating promptly and effectively to requests for response, research, quotes, photos, interviews and information from media contacts, gathering answers through communication with colleagues, usage of historical/archival material, student contact or outside sources; planning and implementing a hometown publicity program; developing and maintaining a faculty expert list, publishing to the website and promoting to the media; updating and maintaining media page(s) on website; serving as University spokesperson as needed.

Serves as lead writer for the Office of Marketing and Communications by: writing news, profiles and features for Insights, Saint Martin’s alumni magazine; writing copy for official University publications; coordinating with contract writers and photographers as needed; updating and maintaining house style guide and media guide; serving as a consultant on writing, editing and house style standards as needed.

Works with the director of event services to disseminate the master University calendar of events to external audiences.

In collaboration with the vice president of marketing and communications and the creative director, supports a marketing/advertising plan by identifying advertising opportunities and developing/maintaining positive working relationships with representatives for media, including newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Remains current on trends, opportunities and challenges within higher education.

Performs related duties as assigned to support the mission of Saint Martin’s University.

Competencies

Exemplary writing skills, adaptable for a range of purposes, including but not limited to
media, internal communication, magazine, web, marketing and fundraising.

Exemplary proofing and copyediting skills; ability to communicate effectively and
creatively, both verbally and in writing; thorough knowledge of English language, grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and usage.

Mastery of Word and AP Style; ability to learn and apply the Saint Martin’s style guide to
writing.

Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact with
diverse individuals and groups.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with media (reporters,
photographers, editors, etc.), staff, faculty, administrators, students, alumni, supporters and
the general public, in part to conduct effective interviews for stories.

Ability to work quickly, accurately and thoroughly, with attention to detail, in an
environment of frequent interruptions and extremely tight timelines, while maintaining a calm
and professional demeanor.

Ability to prioritize projects, to establish and meet deadlines, and to work effectively
both in a team environment and in an independent manner with little supervision at times.

Ability to speak on behalf of the University under stressful conditions.

Ability to serve as a mentor-supervisor for student interns.

Exceptional organizational and project management skills with the ability to exercise a
high degree of diplomacy, discretion, collaboration and problem solving.

Ability to listen to and respond to critique.

Working knowledge of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Tumblr
and YouTube.

Proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Willingness to support a Catholic, Benedictine philosophy of education.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that
must be met by an employee to successfully perform essential functions
of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals
with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Must be able to concentrate on details and process complex information while
experiencing frequent interruptions

Must be able to communicate effectively with people at all levels under stressful conditions

Must maintain strict confidentiality relating to all issues in the department and the University.

The principles of the Catholic Benedictine tradition, equal
employment opportunity, and nondiscrimination are fundamental to the
mission, goals, and objectives of Saint Martin’s University. The
University does not discriminate in employment or in the delivery or
administration of its educational programs, policies, scholarship and
loan programs, athletic or other University programs on the basis of
sex, sexual orientation, race, color, religion (except as a bona fide
occupational qualification for certain select positions), marital
status, national or ethnic origin, military or veteran status, age, or
disability.

Students or employees with concerns or complaints about discrimination on the
basis of sex in employment or an education program or activity, or any other
inquiries related to the University's non-discrimination policy, may contact the
following individual:

Consistent with the requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972 and the regulations adopted under that law, the University has designated
the above individual as the University's Title IX Officer, responsible for
coordinating the University's Title IX compliance. Individuals may also contact
the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 915 2nd Avenue, Room
3310 Seattle, WA 98174-1099, Telephone: (206) 220-7900, TDD: (206) 220-7907.